


Making Sense Of The Situation

by breeisonfire



Series: Shutter 'verse [5]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Badass!everyone, Hurt!Stiles, I'm having way too much fun with this, M/M, Magic, Pack Dynamics, Pre-Slash, Witches, kidnapped!stiles, sterek
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-30
Updated: 2014-01-14
Packaged: 2018-01-06 17:35:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 13,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1109650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/breeisonfire/pseuds/breeisonfire
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Scott misses the days when his biggest worry was lacrosse and his asthma. The days before he was a werewolf, before he had five people counting on him as their Alpha, before his best friend getting kidnapped by a murderous witch was actually a legitimate fear that came true.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! Welcome to the first multi-chapter story of the series. I've got the plot mapped out, but I'm not sure how long it's going to be. This chapter is shorter than all the other stories, because my brain is tired, and it'll help me not rush the plot too much. And also, thanks to all those who read and left kudos and bookmarked this series! You guys are so awesome.
> 
> This fic is actually being beta'd by the awesome whatthehale. Aren't you so proud of me?
> 
> Enjoy!

Scott misses the days when his biggest worry was lacrosse and his asthma. The days before he was a werewolf, before he had five people counting on him as their Alpha, before his best friend getting kidnapped by a murderous witch was actually a legitimate fear that came true.

Because yes. Stiles has been kidnapped by a witch. Or, they’re pretty sure it’s a witch. They haven’t seen one, but it’s the best theory they’ve got based on what little information they have.

None of them had been with Stiles when it happened. None of them had even known what had happened, nor that anything _had_ happened, at first. They’d been at movie night, and then went home, as usual. Scott and the others had had no idea that Stiles hadn’t made it home until the next morning, when Scott got a call at six from John Stilinski, asking him why Stiles hadn’t told him he was spending the night and asking why he wasn’t answering his phone.

Scott had sat up straight then, wide awake. His Alpha instincts (which he was still getting used to) had gone nuts, and he’d talked to John, telling him that Stiles hadn’t spent the night, and that he was going to contact the entire pack to make sure he hadn’t ended up with one of them. He’d promised to call John back as soon as he had the answers from everyone.

And, of course, the answer from everyone had been a no. Everyone had gone home to their own houses, and none of them had heard from Stiles. Scott had called a pack meeting immediately, at Stiles’ house. He’d called John and informed him before getting a text from Derek that made him even more worried.

Derek had found Stiles’ Jeep just past his apartment building. It was empty, with no signs of forced entry, but Derek couldn’t pick up a scent trail anywhere around the Jeep that smelled even remotely like Stiles. He did, however, find Stiles’ phone and wallet, sitting on the passenger seat. Scott, who had still been on the phone, repeated this information to John, given him a location, and then left, sending a text to the rest of the pack to meet where Derek had found Stiles’ Jeep.

When Scott had arrived, he was hit with this sense of wrong, like everything was messed up. Like the very reality around him was not right. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but when he’d voiced it, Derek had nearly growled.

“You’re picking up on magic,” he’d told Scott. “Someone’s masking the scent from us. A witch of some sort.”

But, because none of them were witches, they didn’t have the tools to get rid of the spell. Which was what had led them to where they were now, outside the animal clinic, hoping Dr. Deaton would help them figure it out.

The clinic is open, and Deaton comes out of the back as Scott walks in, followed by the rest of the pack and John, who had decided that because Scott’s pack had the best chance of finding Stiles, he was going to help them out.

“I take it this is official pack business?” Deaton asks, looking directly at Scott. He nods.

“Stiles is missing,” he says. “I sensed some kind of magic around his Jeep. But none of us have the skills to reverse it.”

“And you were hoping I did?” Deaton finishes for him. Scott nods. He hopes he can, because the entire pack is getting agitated, and he can’t sense Stiles no matter how hard he tries. It’s freaking him out, because since he’d become an Alpha, he’s always been able to sense Stiles, the one pack member whose membership he hadn’t had to grant or whose loyalty he’d never had to ask for. Stiles has always just been there, and the fact that Scott can’t feel his presence at all is pushing his panic levels up higher than he’s prepared to handle.

“Do you?” he asks, desperately trying to push the panic away. He’s an Alpha, he’s got to keep his head and figure out how to find Stiles calmly, or they’ll never accomplish anything.

Deaton looks at him, looks at the rest of the pack, at John, and then back at Scott. “I can certainly try,” he says, putting down the towel he was carrying. “Just let me grab a few things.”

Minutes later, they’re on the road, driving back to Stiles’ Jeep, which still sits on the side of the road, undisturbed. Scott hates the feeling he gets around it, that what he’s looking at isn’t real. It’s making him extremely uncomfortable, and it’s starting to affect the rest of the pack. Scott shakes his head at the look Isaac is giving him and forces himself closer to the Jeep, next to Deaton.

Deaton has his eyes narrowed at the Jeep, looking slightly confused. Scott can see John on the other side of Deaton, frowning at the expression on the vet’s face, and wonders briefly what he’s thinking. It can’t be easy, knowing your son is missing and knowing that the situation he’s got himself in is one you can’t do much about. The frown just makes Scott’s resolve to find Stiles stronger. He’s starting to make a mental map of the area when Deaton suddenly turns toward him.

“When did you say this happened?” Deaton’s eyes are like a laser the way they’re looking at Scott.

“We’re not sure,” Scott says slowly. “The pack split up around eleven. Derek, what time did you get home?”

“Eleven-ten,” Derek says quietly.

“Stiles left right after Derek,” Scott says. He remembers that Stiles was the last to leave, like always. “He usually drives this way to get home, so best guess would be around eleven-fifteen?”

Deaton frowns, like what Scott said doesn’t make sense. Scott raises an eyebrow, but before he can ask, he hears movement to his right where there’s a line of bushes, and spins toward it, eyes flashing red.

Chris Argent freezes, holding his arms up in a surrender gesture. Scott immediately relaxes, knowing Chris doesn’t mean them any harm. If anything, he could be helpful, since he _is_ a hunter.

Chris’ eyes are moving over all of them and taking everything in, and he lets out a little sigh. “Let me guess -- Stiles?”

“He’s missing,” Scott nods. “We think it’s a witch.”

Chris runs a hand over his face. “I caught signs of a witch last night. I’ve spent most of the night trying to track it down. It’s slow going, and I followed the trail all over the woods until now.”

“You have a trail?” Scott asks, feeling hope rise in him. “You can track witches?”

“Usually they don’t bother to cover their tracks until they have a reason to do so,” Chris says, and gestures to the Jeep. “Abducting a member of the local pack seems to be a pretty good reason.”

Scott growls in frustration, not bothering to hold it in. It catches the attention of his pack and they all start to turn toward him when Deaton interrupts.

“More than one witch.”

Scott turns to him in surprise. “What?”

“A spell this strong needs more than one witch to cast it,” Deaton says. “I’d say at least three, maybe four witches would be needed for the scent and trail to be covered so thoroughly that even eight hours later an Alpha can’t pick up the trail.”

“So you can’t disable it?” Isaac apparently catches onto what he’s saying before anyone else.

Deaton shakes his head sadly. “I’m a druid, not a witch. We have different beliefs, different rituals, and we handle magic differently. I’m afraid I can’t help here.”

It’s quiet for a moment. Scott feels anger rising inside of him as well as hopelessness. Nothing had happened for so long that they’d started to feel safe, started to forget how fast this could creep up on them. Now, they weren’t prepared, and they had no idea what to do.

It’s Chris who speaks next. “Seems to me like this is a play to draw out the Alpha.”

Scott feels his insides go cold. Because Chris is probably right. Take a member of a pack, the Alpha’s going to feel responsible. It’s the Alpha’s job to take care of the pack, to protect them, and with Stiles being one of the most vulnerable…

It hits him like a punch to the gut and he’s heading back to the car before he even realizes what he’s doing. It takes Derek and Isaac less than two seconds to step in his way, stopping him.

“What?” Derek asks, a look in his eyes that Scott’s never seen before and can’t quite identify.

“I need to go make sure my mom is okay,” Scott says. Derek and Isaac both look confused, but Lydia suddenly gasps. Scott knows she’s caught on and pushes past Derek and Isaac, both of whom are looking at Lydia.

“What do we do?” Allison asks, looking at Scott as he turns. She’s not questioning his judgement, and he doesn’t know if it’s because she’s caught on or if it’s because she trusts him, but he doesn’t care.

“Go back to the clinic,” Scott says, looking at Deaton to make sure it’s okay. He nods. “Take Stiles’s Jeep. We’re not going to get anything out of it here.”

“You have to take at least one of us with you,” Isaac says, and moves to get in the passenger seat of his car. Scott doesn’t argue; instead he looks at Derek.

“Keep them safe,” he gestures towards the others. Derek nods, even though he’s got this kind of crazed look in his eyes, and turns to go towards Stiles’s Jeep.

Scott drives quickly to his house, where he knows his mom is. He’s pretty sure she doesn’t have to go to work, since she doesn’t usually work Saturdays, which is good. But Scott’s got a bad feeling, and he hurries into the house.

“Mom?” he yells.

“Kitchen!” she yells back, and Scott heads there immediately with Isaac on his heels. He sighs in relief when he sees her standing in front of the coffee maker, looking groggy. Her eyes widen when she sees his face, and Scott wonders if his eyes are still red, or if he just looks really freaked out. He has no idea, but doesn’t have time to dwell on it.

“What’s wrong?” she asks.

“Uh, well, Stiles is missing, witches are in town, and you might be in danger,” Scott blurts out. “Can you come with us to the animal clinic? Everyone’s there.”

His mom takes a second to catch up with him, but when she does, her heart rate speeds up for a second and then steadies. She has a worried expression on, but it doesn’t stop her from getting ready and coming with them.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoa, hi, guys. Sorry, life got in the way and started kicking my ass. But I'm back, and with a longer chapter than before, that was also beta'd by whatthehale, whom I've learned is a lovely person and loves Tyler Hoechlin and Dylan O'brien as much as I do.
> 
> Few things you should know before you read this: Some elements of this story were inspired by The Sum of its Parts series by KouriArashi (which if you haven't read YOU REALLY NEED TO), such as the "Alpha protects the pack and the pack protects the Alpha," as well as Isaac's role in the pack, and to a certain extent Derek and Allison's.
> 
> Derek's character is clearly OOC from the show, but then the entire series is obviously slightly AU, so I'm taking creative liberties with him. I'm not really including the darkness story, and I've got no excuse for that except for the fact that I honestly just didn't think about it. I've got ideas for at least three more fics to add to this series, Sterek is coming, you're awesome, and I'm just rambling now so go read the story.

As soon as they get to the clinic, Scott ushers them to the back room quickly, determined not to lose track of another person. He takes a silent headcount when he gets inside and sees that everyone (minus Stiles) got there safely, and he breathes a small sigh of relief before taking his place next to the door, with a view of the front door. Allison is sitting on the other side of the door, her crossbow in her lap and one hand resting on it. Isaac settles close to Scott, directly on his left side. Derek is sitting on a table, directly underneath the window, staring at the floor. Lydia sits next to him. Her knees are drawn up to her chest, and she’s looking at Scott, clearly waiting for him to speak.

Unlike the pack, the adults are more scattered, and in various states of worry. Deaton is sitting at his desk, his face as calm as always. Chris is sitting next to Allison, his gun also resting in his lap, and he seems to be deep in thought. John is leaning on the wall next to Isaac, staring at the wall across from him with a small frown on his face. Scott’s mom has taken up residence next to him, and when he looks down at her hand, he sees she’s got John’s hand in hers. _That’s_ interesting, but irrelevant, even if he does give his mom a look when she meets his eyes. She just raises her eyebrows in response, and nods toward the rest of the room, like he needs reminding that they’re all standing there because his best friend is missing.

Scott lets out a breath, and it gets the attention of the pack. Allison takes it as permission to ask questions and opens her mouth. “Are you going to explain what you meant now?”

Scott looks at her and nods. “The timing was too perfect. They had to have been watching us, and not just for tonight. They had to have been watching us for awhile, because they knew who would be vulnerable.” He doesn’t need to explain why he brought his mom over. They know as well as he does that if they were willing to take Stiles to get to him, they would be willing to take his mom.

“But that doesn’t make any sense,” Lydia speaks up. “Why take Stiles?”

“He’s vulnerable,” Allison says, but Lydia shakes her head.

“He’s not the most vulnerable,” Lydia says. “He’s the son of the sheriff, and the sheriff’s in the know. Out of those of us who left that night, he’s the one whose disappearance would have been noticed fastest, except Allison’s. Derek, I get, because he’s a werewolf, but I’m smaller than Stiles, _and_ I went home to an empty house. My parents are out of town. You wouldn’t have noticed until Monday morning.”

Scott’s insides clench at that, and he closes his eyes for a second. Because Lydia’s right. The pack is pretty close, but if Lydia had gone missing last night instead of Stiles, they probably wouldn’t have noticed. He resolves to fix that somehow and puts that to the back of his mind.

“But all it would have taken was one supernatural death, and you probably would have screamed,” Isaac speaks up. “The scream would have made it so we could track you down, pack bond or no pack bond.”

“The pack bond’s been interrupted?” Deaton asks, and he looks concerned. Scott feels more dread as he nods.

“We can’t sense him at all,” he says.

Deaton frowns again.

“What?” John asks.

“There are certain types of magic that are considered taboo,” Deaton says. “Magic that messes with packs are one of them. So if they’re using a spell to interrupt the pack bond, they’re using ages old Dark Magic. Of course,” he says, meeting Scott’s eyes, “that is again according to druid magic.”

Scott makes a frustrated noise that comes out like a growl. It’s echoed by both Isaac and Derek. The former moves closer to Scott, while Derek closes his eyes. Scott watches him closely for a second before looking back at Deaton.

“What do they want?” Scott asks. Deaton shrugs helplessly.

“There’s a lot of things they could want,” he says. “Stiles is a virgin, right? There are spells that his blood could be used for.”

All of the pack and John wince at that, and Deaton quickly adds, “Or they could want to draw you out, as Chris said.”

“But if they’ve been watching us and they wanted to draw Scott out, why didn’t they go directly after him?” Melissa asks as she glances as Scott.

“It would have been harder to get to Scott than Stiles,” Chris says. “You were all at Scott’s house last night, right? So everyone else was leaving, and Isaac stayed there.”

“And if they were going to draw me out, wouldn’t they have left us someway to track him down?” Scott asks.

“Maybe there is, and we just haven’t found it yet,” Allison says.

“Maybe they’re going to and just need time to set something up,” Lydia suggests.

“Maybe,” Deaton says, and then stops himself, glancing around the room. Scott looks at him and raises an eyebrow. Deaton’s tone of voice was one that made Scott think he’d figured something out, and Scott wanted to know what it was.

Deaton meets Scott’s eyes again, and begins to speak. “Their use of magic affecting the pack means they have some knowledge of how packs work. What’s Stiles’s position in the pack?”

It’s quiet for a moment. Scott thinks about it and realizes he’s not sure. He’d never really thought about how the pack worked like that. He knew he was Alpha, and Derek and Isaac were both betas, but he wasn’t sure about anyone else. He didn’t even know if the humans (and Lydia) would be considered betas or not.

The silence is starting to get awkward before Derek finally speaks up. “Stiles is Scott’s second.”

Everyone looks at him. It’s the first time Derek’s spoken since they got to the clinic, and his eyes are half-blue, as if he can’t quite hold the wolf back. Scott narrows his eyes at him, feeling his Alpha instinct whisper something to him. But before he can focus on it, Chris is speaking.

“Really?” he says. “I would have thought that was Isaac.”

Derek shakes his head. “No. Isaac is essentially Scott’s bodyguard. It’s obvious because of where Isaac is standing in relation to Scott right now. We feel threatened, so we all fell into our pack roles without realizing.”

“Really?” Lydia’s sitting up straight and her eyes are narrowed as she looks around the room. “Explain.”

Derek looks like he really doesn’t want to, but now Scott’s interested, and when he looks at Derek, he sighs and begins pointing it out. “Scott’s closest to the door, with a clear view of the door. He can see any threat coming in that way, and he’s also in a place where he can see everyone. That’s the Alpha instinct. It’s telling him to protect and take care of everyone.”

Derek gestures to Isaac. “Isaac is directly on Scott’s left. Where he can protect him if he needs to. Because the Alpha protects the pack, but we’re also supposed to protect our Alpha.”

Next he gestures to Allison. “Allison is what my dad always used to call a warrior of the pack. I am, too. Near the entrances, ready to fight if we need to, first line of defense.”

He looks at Lydia. “You’re kind of like the psychic of the pack. Most packs don’t have one, but I’ve heard of a few who have someone with some kind of psychic ability, whether through learned or born ability.”

“And Stiles?” Scott can’t help but prompt him. Derek looks at him, before letting out another breath and starting to speak again.

“Stiles is your second,” he says. “He’s probably been in your pack the longest. He’s your confidant, the one who you tell your plans and who isn’t afraid to tell you when you’re wrong. He’s also the strategist, although he and Allison kind of share that role. Most humans don’t fit only one role, and even werewolves can have more than one at a time.”

Derek hesitates for a second, then starts to speak again, “The fact that he’s your second could have a lot to do with why he was the one that was taken. But there’s another factor here: Stiles is our detective. The one with the best chances of putting it all together and figuring it out. Whereas the rest of us have abilities that allow us to find the clues, Stiles is the one who usually puts them together.”

There’s a beat of silence while everyone digests that. Scott thinks it over and finds he agrees with Derek, one hundred percent. He doesn’t think he’s ever heard Derek speak so much in one sitting, and never that much praise towards anyone. The Alpha instinct starts whispering to him, but he determinedly pushes it to the back of his mind, knowing that it can wait until they find Stiles.

He looks around the room. Deaton’s nodding, and Lydia and Isaac both look convinced. Chris’s face is giving away nothing, and Scott’s mom looks more worried than anything, but both John and Allison are frowning. Scott hopes it doesn’t mean there’s an argument about to come, because he’s starting to get a headache and he just wants to find Stiles.

Allison speaks up first. “I agree, except we have Sheriff Stilinski and my dad here now. They’ll be able to do that, too.”

John speaks up. “Maybe. But Stiles has expertise in this that I don’t.”

“And I’m a hunter,” Chris says. “Not a detective.”

“Still,” Allison says, but she trails off uncertainly.

Scott wishes Stiles was there. Stiles always seemed to pull clues out of places Scott never would have thought to look and put them together. He remembers how skeptical he’d been when Stiles had figured out when the seemingly random killings had been human sacrifices. He regrets that now, since Stiles had been right (and that’s a pattern in his life; Stiles isn’t right all the time, but he is right more often than not). He tries to think what Stiles would do in this situation, and clears his throat.

“We need to pool our information on witches,” he says. “Try to figure out where they could be set up, and what their motivation is. Does anyone have Stiles’s keys?” Stiles had been taking a book out of Gerard’s book and started building his own bestiary and keeping it on a flash drive. He’d kept it on his keys, so as long as they still had those (and since Stiles’s Jeep was now at the clinic, he assumed they did), they had that.

There’s a jingle of keys, and Scott sees Derek pull them out of his pocket and hold them up. Scott’s surprised for a second until he remembers that Derek had left his Camaro at his apartment building earlier. He’d probably been the one to drive the Jeep there. He adds that to his steadily growing pile of thoughts at the back of his mind and points at the flash drive.

“That’s Stiles’s bestiary,” he says. “It’s got everything Stiles has learned on it.”

Lydia had brought her laptop along, so they set it up on the table in the middle and Scott puts Lydia in charge of that. Derek’s moved to stand at the door, and Scott can feel the panic from him starting to build again.

“Hey,” Scott says, and Derek looks at him. “Maybe Cora’s pack will know something?”

Derek blinks, but nods, pulling out of his phone. Scott’s pretty sure Derek’s ran out of words for the moment and so isn’t surprised when starts texting instead of calling.

The atmosphere is tense, made worse by the fact that they all know that this is Stiles’s specialty, and there’s more than one temper reaching its limits. Lydia snaps at Isaac, which elicits a growl, and Scott has to get in between them before it gets too bad, because he knows that Derek will take Isaac’s side while Allison will take Lydia’s, and there’s already too much tension between those two, even now. It takes about ten seconds for Lydia and Isaac to realize that now is not the time for arguing, and they both apologize, but Scott can feel the tension level still going up, and without Stiles’s stupid comments breaking it, Scott isn’t sure how to deal with it.

It turns out he doesn’t need to, because just as he’s sure Derek is about to snap and possibly rip someone’s throat out, Lydia’s head snaps up and she gives Scott a helpless look before open her mouth.

“Cover your ears!” Scott manages to warn everyone just before Lydia starts screaming. Even with his ears covered, it’s painfully loud, and he backs away as far as possible before he hits a wall. He’s pretty sure his head is going to explode, but before it can, it stops. Scott opens his eyes, which he can feel are bright red, and looks around.

Both Derek and Isaac have backed up to the walls, too. Derek’s shifted, as if the shock of the scream had snapped his control, but he looks to be shifting back to human. Deaton’s face is neutral. John, Melissa, and Chris all look surprised, uncovering their ears, and Allison’s got a hand around Lydia’s wrist, as she’s trying to get up and leave. Scott stands up, unsure what to make of this.

“What the hell?” John asks.

“Someone’s dead,” Scott answers. “Lydia screams when there’s a dead body, it’s the banshee. Now she’s got to go find it.”

“Find it?” Scott’s mom’s voice is about three octaves too high, and Scott looks at her. She’s trying to keep her fear from showing, but she’s not managing it, and Scott can smell i from where he’s standing. “What if…” she trails off, looking worried again.

_What if it’s Stiles?_ Scott knows that’s what she’d been about to ask. He doesn’t want to think about it, but it’s possible, even probable, considering what’s going on. If it’s not Stiles, it could be related to him. Or it could be a coincidence. At the moment, it doesn’t matter. Lydia hasn’t learned to control her powers yet, if they even can be controlled, and there’s no way in hell he’s letting her go on her own.

“We have to go with her,” he says. The pack all agree, standing to go. Scott looks at the adults. He knows that he isn’t their Alpha and has no say in what they do, but he doesn’t want his mom or Deaton to come. He does want Chris, and John will most likely want to come no matter what Scott wants.

Before Scott can say anything to any of them, John speaks up. “If you’re thinking of telling us to stay, you’re wrong.”

“No,” Scott can’t help but smile. Sometimes he forgets where Stiles gets his snarkiness from. “I was just thinking how I can’t tell you what to do. If you’re coming, you should be armed. Just in case.”

Chris reaches into a bag he’d brought along and hands a gun to John. “It’s got wolfsbane bullets,” he says. “Effective against almost anything. Including witches.”

Scott looks at his mom, who is looking at the gun in John’s hands with apprehension. Scott doesn’t know if his mom knows how to fire a gun. She’s amazing under pressure, she’s shown that before, but she’s not a fighter, and he knows that. He goes over to her.

“Maybe you should stay here,” he says. His mom raises an eyebrow.

“You’re crazy,” she says.

“Mom,” Scott’s not sure how to say this. “You’re not a fighter.”

“Neither is Lydia,” his mom points out.

“She kind of doesn’t have a choice,” Scott points out. Right now, Lydia’s be held onto by Isaac, and he’s practically had to lift the tiny girl off of her feet. Scott knows they have to hurry, but looking at Lydia gives him an idea.

“Maybe you could stay with her?” he says. “Lydia doesn’t like not knowing what’s going on, so she usually comes, but she usually stays in the back?” he hopes to God he’s not insulting his mom.

She lets out annoyed noise. “Well, there’s not much else I can do. I should learn how to shoot a gun.”

Scott wiggles his eyebrows. “Maybe you should ask the sheriff to teach you.”

“You be quiet,” she says as she stands up. Scott waves at Deaton as they go out the door. Lydia’s already heading to her car, and Derek’s following her. Scott does, too, and both Allison and Isaac follow him. Somehow they all get into her tiny car, with Derek in the passenger seat (Isaac’s the tallest, but he refused on the basis that Derek and Allison in close quarters might be the death of them; Scott can’t argue). He sees that the adults have got into Chris’s SUV, and is following them closely. He feels a bit of fear creep in when the thinks about his mom being there, and he knows Stiles is going to kill him for letting his dad get involved. He just hopes Stiles gets the chance.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, so this chapter kinda got away from me, because the characters were not supposed to be so interesting and their story was not supposed to be like this at ALL. Fair warning, this is only about the witches, explaining who they are, how they took Stiles, and what they're doing with him.
> 
> Also, thanks for all the comments and the kudos!

Her name is Lily.

That’s all she remembers about her life from before. Before she woke up in the middle of a field, before everything was on fire, before she was found. It’s been three years, and she’s still afraid to find out what happened before.

She was young, back then. She didn’t have control of her powers. Or so that’s what Diana tells her. She tells Lily that it’s not uncommon for young, powerful witches to lose control. She tells Lily there was never any bodies found, that she didn’t hurt anyone.

Lily wants so badly to believe it. Diana always seems so confident.

Diana was older than Lily, in her thirties, and she had saved Lily that day that she’d woken up, completely disoriented, naked, and burning everything in sight. She’d talked Lily down, helped her clean up, and offered to take her in. Lily, unable to remember anything, had agreed, and so it went. Diana taught her control, taught her spells, and gave her _family._ It’s something Lily so desperately needed, as she was learning. She couldn’t be alone.

Lily wasn’t the only one Diana picked up. There was also Aaron, who was also older than Lily. Diana had found him wandering around in a forest, rambling on about how the light had taken his family. From what they could tell, Aaron’s family had died in some kind of magical accident. Aaron wasn’t always lucid, but when he was, he was calm, serene, and _good_ , in a way Lily doesn’t think she’s ever been, in a way Diana truly does not understand.

When he’s not lucid, they have to make sure to keep close eye on him, because his elemental power is air, and he has literally flown away from them, and when he gets away he always comes back, but there’s a suspicious amount of blood on him and deaths in the city, and it’s too much of a risk, and they have to pack up and leave.

They’ve always been a nomadic group, heading from city to city, staying for a while until something comes up, or Aaron gets loose, or Diana gets bored. They don’t go to one place more than once, and don’t associate with people outside of the three of them. Lily often feels like they don’t belong in society, and has tried to talk Diana into just leaving it altogether, or maybe going to another continent, but she won’t hear of it.

“I’m needed here,” she always says, and won’t explain further. Lily’s given up on asking for explanation, and so settles for seeing the sights in America, playing cards with Aaron in the back of their old car, and learning how to control her powers.

They’re in Jessup, Maryland when the rumors of a True Alpha makes it to them. The second the words ‘True Alpha’ are said near Diana, her eyes light up. It makes Lily nervous, and even Aaron, who is lucid for the moment, edges slightly away from her.

“A True Alpha!” Diana hadn’t been able to stop squealing. “It’s been over a hundred years since such a thing existed!”

It had taken Diana three days to find if the rumors were true. They were, she’d said, and they should go check them out. Lily had been hesitant, not wanting to get into any trouble, but Diana had convinced her, and Aaron hadn’t said anything, barely even looking up from his book.

So, a day later, they’d packed up the car, and headed across the country, to Beacon Hills, California. Lily had liked it almost immediately; she could feel the power running through the town, and wanted to stay there for forever. She knew, of course, that it wasn’t possible, but she still liked it.

“Why are we here?” Aaron had asked curiously the day after they’d settled into the hotel. “Why do you want to check out the True Alpha?”

Diana’s eyes had glittered in the way that always made Lily uneasy. “Haven’t you ever heard what a True Alpha is worth in magic? Do you know the kind of magic we can do with the blood of a True Alpha? Magic that hasn’t been seen in a century!”

The excitement made Lily feel sick.

“A True Alpha undoubtedly has a pack,” Aaron had pointed out. “How do you plan to get around that?”

Diana had grinned fiercely, and said, “Well, that’s easy.”

Thus had started their three weeks of surveillance. Lily watched the pack while at school, and followed them around, locating all their houses. Diana and Aaron learned to do magic that they’d never had to do before, and finally they were ready.

It had been easy for Lily to magically stop the Jeep the boy they’d targeted drove. He’d pulled over and cursed as he got out of the Jeep, heading around toward the front.

Aaron had been waiting for him. The boy had stopped dead as soon as he’d seen him, and started to back up. He’d backed directly into Diana, and spun around.

The boy had taken a deep breath and started to yell, right as Diana cast the spell. He’d gotten out a name, “Derek,” just before he’d dropped to the ground. Aaron had caught his head and then hoisted the boy up before they cast the spell that would stop the pack from finding them. As they’d ridden back to the barn they’d found for their magic base, Lily had sat in back, with the boy’s head on her lap, trying desperately to not feel horribly guilty.

They’d made it to the barn without a problem, and set up the boy in a spell that Diana had found. From what she’d said, it cut off the pack bond by putting the boy in a sort of suspended animation. It stopped the boy’s heart and breathing, and his body floated just above the table they’d put him on. Lily watched his body, filled with sick fascination for a long time before Diana had forced her to go to bed.

When she woke, the others were already up. The boy was still floating right where she’d left him, and Lily makes a point to look away from it. Instead, she looks at Aaron, who gives her a tired smile.

“So,” Diana says cheerfully as she hands Lily a plate of food. “Today we send a message to the True Alpha.”

The way Diana’s voice lingers on the word ‘message’ makes Lily shiver, and she glances over at the boy involuntary. He hasn’t moved, not that she expects him to. Not for the first time, she wonders if she knew someone like him before. She shakes her head and looks down at the plate before taking a bite. She’s not hungry anymore, but she knows she has to eat if they’re going to do more magic today.

“How exactly are we going to do that?” Aaron asks, leaning forward with that sharp look of his. Lily loves when he gives someone that look. It’s the look that means he’s lucid, that he’s him, and he’s okay. It’s like he can see right through them.

Diana starts to speak, but there’s a noise outside, and all of them freeze. On a normal day, they would have sensed an intruder long before they got close enough to hear, but they were tired from the amount of magic they’d done the day before, and they aren’t prepared to deal with anyone yet. Diana holds a hand up and starts to move towards the door, but it opens before she can get there.

A young man stands there, somewhere in his twenties, and stops as soon as he sees them. He stares, open-mouthed, and then notices the boy.

Another voice calls out, “Hey, is everything okay? We don’t have to today, you know,” and another young man appears at the door. He freezes as well, and then grabs the hand of the first man and starts to back up.

“We’ve got to get out of here,” he says, and they turn to run.

Diana moves before they get very far, and both of them are knocked to the ground as she uses _her_ elemental power, earth. Diana’s always been amazingly strong, and Lily’s always struck by how amazing magic is when she sees Diana use her powers. This time is no different.

Diana gets over to them, both lying on the ground, and shakes her head before cutting loose with her magic. The second before she kills them, a scream starts, and lasts long after they’re both dead. The scream catches their attention, and they all stop and stare at the sky until it ends.

“A Wailing Woman?” Aaron’s the first to speak. Lily stops and looks at him, her eyes wide. She’s never met a Wailing Woman before, but she’s heard all about them.

“This town is interesting,” Diana says, coming back into the barn and closing the door.

“What about them?” Lily gestures to the door.

“Leave them,” Diana says. “The Wailing Woman is on her way. If I’m not mistaken, she’s got a pack with her. We don’t have to send a message to the True Alpha. He’s already got it.”

“But we’re nowhere near strong enough to take on a werewolf pack,” Aaron says, stepping forward. His eyes are panicked, and Lily doesn’t like that, because Aaron doesn’t always stay lucid when he’s stressed.

“We don’t have to take on a werewolf pack,” Diana says. “We’ve got him,” she gestures over her shoulder to the boy. “He’s our bargaining chip.”

“So we’re just going to let them come?” Aaron asks. “We’re not even going to try to run?”

Diana nods. “We’ll ambush them.”

Aaron snorts. “That’ll go over well.”

Lily looks at Aaron, then at Diana. She hates it when they argue, which they do so often, because she doesn’t know whose side to take. She hates upsetting Diana, but she agrees with Aaron. They aren’t ready for a fight. But she’s not sure how to convince Diana of that, so she follows Diana and starts preparing, all the while praying to the gods that they would be able to make it through this alive.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, guys! So Teen Wolf last night deserves a big giant HOLY SHIT because it was kinda awesome, especially acting wise (Heyoooo Dylan O'brien is awesome and Posey actually kicked ass in the yelling-at-his-dad scene okay and also I love Melissa McCall and the sheriff can they please get together). Here's a new chapter!
> 
> If you've noticed the chapter amount keeps changing, that would be because my awesome beta, whatthehale, stopped me and suggested that I make these chapters longer and with more depth, which was a great idea considering. This is like the fourth version of this chapter I've had, and I like the way this one came out better than the last three. So enjoy!

Scott’s not surprised when they end up at a part of the woods he doesn’t know very well. He is, however, surprised by recent scent of Derek he catches as he gets out to follow Lydia. He raises an eyebrow at Derek as the older wolf reaches out to stop Lydia from running off without the adults.

Derek shrugs. Scott’s convinced he actually _has_ used all the words he’s able to when he suddenly opens his mouth and says, “I like to go on runs.”

Which isn’t really an explanation, but Scott lets it go. It’s not really important, and if Derek knows these woods, it’s better for them all. Chris’s SUV pulls up right next to Lydia’s car and the adults climb out.

“Ready?” Scott asks, and everyone nods. Derek lets go of Lydia, and they start to follow her. There’s the same tension rising in the group as they walk, and Scott’s pretty sure most of them are on the verge of exploding, himself included. There’s no familiar scents other than Derek, whose eyes are still bright blue despite the fact that the rest of his body is human. Scott’s never seen Derek lose control like this, and it’s starting to worry him. He doesn’t know why Stiles’s disappearance would have this kind of effect on Derek, unless --.

_Holy shit._

Scott sneaks a look at Derek. The older werewolf is staring straight ahead, but he looks back at Scott after a second, and raises an eyebrow, clearly confused. Scott shrugs and looks forward again. He starts to go back over the past few weeks, the behavior of Derek when around Stiles, and is hit with another realization.

_It goes both ways._

It explains so much. Stiles’s plan, all the texts, what happened on the anniversary, Stiles’s concern and the way he’d been so sure Derek would agree to getting a new apartment, Derek’s reaction to Stiles’s abduction, the way he’d spoken about Stiles earlier. He sneaks another glance at Derek, looking away before he could notice.

He wonders what he should do about it, but then stops himself. Stiles has to be okay before he can go any further. Any future plans had to be put on hold until they rescued Stiles.

And _then_ he was going to exercise his right as an Alpha and meddle, because there was no way in hell either of them were going to get their heads out of their asses and do anything without prompting from someone. As Alpha, Scott figured that was his sacred duty.

They walk in silence for about ten more minutes before suddenly Scott catches a scent he doesn’t like and jumps forward to stop Lydia.

“Blood,” he says. Derek and Isaac both make affirmative noises, and Lydia blinks and makes an annoyed noise.

“I _hate_ this power,” she complains. “Where are we?”

“We’re in the woods,” Scott says. “Near a dead body. There’s blood.”

“Wonderful,” Lydia says sarcastically.

“I know where we are,” Derek says suddenly. “Up ahead, there’s an old barn. It’s in the same direction the blood is in.”

“An old barn?” Isaac says. “How cliche.”

Scott, despite himself, snorts, because he knows _exactly_ what Stiles would have to say to that. He shakes his head and looks at Lydia and his mom.

“You’d better come and tell me what happens as soon as possible,” Lydia narrows her eyes at him.

“I promise,” Scott holds up his hand in a Boy Scout salute. “Scout’s honor.”

“You weren’t a Boy Scout,” his mom deadpans.

“Alpha’s honor?” he tries, and his mom just rolls his eyes.

“Just go,” she says, and Scott darts forward to give her a hug before turning to the others and nodding. He, Derek, and Isaac shift while Chris, Allison, and John check their weapons, and then they head forward.

“What’s the plan?” Isaac whispers as they get close. Scott doesn’t answer immediately, because he finally sees the dead body. Or dead bod _ies_ , because there are two. He feels a trap coming, but doesn’t see or hear anything, so he moves closer. The others follow. As soon as they’re close enough to see the bodies, Derek makes a noise like he’s been kicked and Scott freezes before looking at him.

For once, Derek doesn’t need prompting. “The one with blonde hair worked at the station, we were usually there at the same time. His name was Kyle. The other one’s his boyfriend, he used to hang around the station. He gave me advice on EMT training.”

Which means he and Derek were sort of friends, and Scott is really starting to hate whatever entity has it out for Derek, because nothing ever really does go right for him and he’s already lost so many people. He lets out a sigh and focuses on the problem at hand. Anything else can wait.

“How well do you know the barn?” Scott whispers. Derek shakes his head.

“Not at all,” Derek says. “I didn’t ever actually explore it. I just knew it was here.”

Scott nods. It’s not helpful, but it’s not Derek’s fault, so he resolves to move on. “Alright. There’s undoubtedly a trap waiting for us. Derek, Isaac, and I will go in first,” he waits until everyone nods to continue. “You three need to find a spot off the ground,” he says to Allison, Chris, and John. “And make sure you don’t hit any of us,” he’s sure it doesn’t need saying, but he’s been shot before and doesn’t ever want to be shot again.

Allison rolls her eyes, Chris grimaces, and John looks concerned, but they all nod. Then Isaac clears his throat, and Scott looks at him. He’s got a hesitant look, and Scott raises an eyebrow at him.

“Do we, uh,” Isaac stops, then looks at Scott. “Do we kill them?”

Scott bites his lip. He knows they should. They have a right to, in the world of the supernatural. Their pack was attacked, their pack member was taken and possibly injured, and Scott, as Alpha of the territory, has every right to kill them. Even if John is looking at him with a sort of trepidation in his eyes.

God, how Scott misses the days where he didn’t have to make decisions about whether or not they should kill three witches in the presence of the sheriff. The Alpha in him is screaming for their blood, and Scott knows he should listen to it, to keep the pack safe. The instinct hadn’t led him wrong yet, but there’s still a part of him that doesn’t want to become that.

But he looks at Derek, who is barely keeping himself in control, and he looks at Isaac, who is full of nervous energy, and Allison, who is checking her crossbow. He looks back towards Lydia, who he can hear quietly talking to his mom, explaining her powers. He thinks about Stiles, who could be severely injured for all they know, waiting for his pack to come get him, and he reaches a decision.

“Yes,” he finally says, and the pack all look at him with something like surprise. “We have to.”

He says the last part while looking directly at John, who is clearly in the middle of a battle between the side of him that makes him a great sheriff and the side that makes him Stiles’s dad, and waits for him to come to a conclusion. Because Scott has to protect his pack, and his territory, and he’s going to move forward with or without John’s approval, but he doesn’t want to be arrested afterwards.

Finally, John looks up, a look in his eyes that Scott recognizes from Stiles, when Stiles figures something out he’s been working on for a while. Scott waits for John to speak, unable to tell from John’s expression what he’s decided.

John sighs, and opens his mouth. “I know I’m new to all of this. I don’t always understand the supernatural side of it, and God knows I don’t know much about how a pack works. And from what I can tell there’s no other option,” he looks up at Scott, looks him directly in the eyes, and says, “So if you need to kill them to save Stiles, I’m not going to stop you.”

Then he grimaces, and says, “But it’s going to mean so much paperwork for me later.”

Scott snorts. It sounds slightly hysterical to his ears, but no one else comments on it. Everyone looks slightly relieved, and they look back to Scott, who nods.

“We’d better go,” he says.

There’s a second where no one moves and they all just look at each other before Scott straightens up and walks slowly around the barn. He feels Derek and Isaac fall into step on either side of him, and stops just outside the door. He hears three heartbeats inside, and hopes to God one of them is Stiles.

He opens the door, and they’re immediately hit with bright lights. Scott doesn’t get his eyes closed fast enough, but because he was in front and the other two hadn’t been close enough to see into the room, they had, and when the light burns out, they can both still see. Scott feels Isaac grab his arm as he’s blinking in confusion, and feels Derek go in front of them. He hears Derek growling, and worries as he hears something hit flesh, and someone goes flying.

Isaac growls, and a woman’s voice says, “Down, boy.”

Scott growls now, but he still can’t see, and is only still moving because Isaac has a good grip on his arm. He hears fighting noises, and then Isaac whines slightly, a sound that makes Scott’s Alpha instinct go absolutely nuts.

“What?” he demands, accidentally pulling out his Alpha voice. He hates it when he pulls rank, but it’s a knee jerk reaction.

“Stiles is here,” Isaac says slowly. “But I don’t hear a heartbeat. He’s not moving at all.”

The words hit Scott like a punch to the gut, but before he can really digest them, Derek gets hit hard enough for Scott to feel it through the pack bond, and the sounds of fighting stop. Scott’s eyesight isn’t clearing yet, and he takes a moment to curse whatever they’d used to blind him, because it’s worse than the flash grenades the Argents use. Before he can say anything, Isaac spins away from him, and he’s moved to the side. He hits something solid and nearly falls on top of it. Isaac’s no longer holding onto him, and he hears the fighting start again.

“Which one of you is the True Alpha?” a woman’s voice asks, and Scott feels his stomach sink. Because it _had_ been a ploy to get to him. Stiles had been kidnapped and was apparently dead because of him. He grips what he’s leaning on tightly, trying to control himself.

“None of your business,” Derek coughs, and Scott winces at the wet sound. Something hits the ground with a splatter, and Scott knows Derek’s coughing up blood, and Isaac lets out a pained noise, and Scott _still_ can’t _fucking_ see.

“Diana!” the voice of a little girl calls out, filled with worry, and Derek howls in pain.

“No!” Isaac yells out.

“Diana!” a man’s voice says.

“Shut up, Aaron!” the woman says, and Scott hears Derek grunt in pain. Scott closes his eyes, since he can’t see anyway, and focuses on his ears, trying to map out the room. There are three witches in the room, that much he knows, and there’s a woman with Derek, who Scott can hear is about thirty feet to his left. Isaac is further away, and slightly to his right, and there’s a little girl somewhere near him. There’s a man who keeps moving, and Scott can’t pinpoint him exactly. He can hear quiet footsteps raised off the ground, and assumes that those were Allison, Chris, and John, which is confirmed half a second later when he hears Allison whisper his name.

“Scott,” she whispers. “There’s some stuff in the way, we can’t get a good shot and there’s nowhere else to go.”

Which is a problem, but one Scott can’t focus on, because Derek’s making choking noises now.

“Diana, we don’t have to kill them,” the little girl says, and Scott feels a bit of hope. If one of them doesn’t want to kill them, they can use that to their advantage. He really wishes Stiles were able to help out, because he’s always had a talent for talking people in circles until they can’t tell their head from their ass, but he’s not, and Scott doesn’t know what to do with it.

“Scott,” Chris whispers quietly. “If you can maneuver them towards you, we’ll be able to take the shots.”

Scott doesn’t acknowledge that he’s heard it, because he doesn’t know if anyone is looking at him, and it doesn’t seem like the witches have noticed the other three yet. He starts to form a plan in his head.

“Not talking, huh?” he hears the woman say.

Derek chokes out something that sounds suspiciously like, “Go fuck yourself.”

The woman laughs. “Now, now, is that anyway to speak to a lady?”

Derek makes a gasp, like he can suddenly breathe, and then a cough. Then Scott hears him say, “You’re right. I shouldn’t forget my manners. My bad. I meant to say, ‘Please go fuck yourself.’”

Isaac lets out a startled laugh, and Chris gives a barely audible whistle. Scott’s pretty sure Allison is laughing. He wonders how much Derek and Stiles have been talking lately, because that sounds an awful lot like Stiles speaking. He’s not sure if that’s a good or bad thing.

“Well,” the woman doesn’t sound amused, and Scott feels Isaac and Allison both panic, and John curses. There’s a noise that sounds like a knife being pulled out, and the woman says, “If you’re not going to talk, I might as well give you an excuse not to.”

“Don’t!” Isaac yells, his voice overlapping with the man, who says, “Diana!”

“Wait!” Scott blurts out. He can’t do it, he can’t listen to his pack get hurt trying to protect him. “I’m the Alpha.”

“Scott,” Derek’s voice sounds like crap, and it just makes Scott’s resolve stronger. He’s not going to let them get hurt anymore.

“Don’t,” he says. He opens his eyes and lets them flash red. He hears the woman let out a laugh.

“Now we’re getting somewhere!” she says, apparently delighted, and Scott hears a crack, and through the pack bond, feels Derek go unconscious. He panics, and goes to say something, but the man beats him to it.

“He’s cooperating,” he says. “You got what you want. We can end this without killing any of the pack and starting a war.”

“You’ve already killed someone,” Scott can’t help but speak up, gesturing towards where he knows Stiles’s body is. His hand bumps into a body, and he forces himself to not recoil, instead gripping the arm he finds there. It’s Stiles, he can tell by the scent.

“No,” the little girl says. “He’s not dead.”

Scott feels a rush of relief run through his body, feels it echoed from Allison and Isaac, but Derek is still unconscious, and Scott can smell his blood from where he’s standing. He doesn’t know why Derek isn’t healing yet, doesn’t know why he’s unconscious, but Derek is vulnerable, and he knows the woman is still right next to him. He needs to get her away from him, and he needs to get Derek and Stiles out of there quickly before either of them can get hurt again. He needs a plan.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter five, yo. So the last chapter and this chapter were originally together, but I thought maybe it would be too much in one sitting. So here's the second half of the action part. Again, this is like the fourth version of this chapter, and this version came out best, in my opinion. I do like Scott in this. Also, I don't know if any of you care, but the witches were not at all supposed to be like this and so them being who they ended up being really messed up my original plot, so it's all different now. But no worries.
> 
> Thanks again to my beta, whatthehale, and also all of you who have read and commented and given kudos. You're all awesome. ^_^

Scott takes a deep breath. He doesn’t know what to do other than protect his pack. If they want him, they can have him, but they can’t have his pack. He won’t let them.

“Let them leave,” he says. He’s not sure how this will go. It seems like the man and the little girl are content to let them go, but the woman doesn’t seem to be persuaded, and he’s not sure how to convince her.

“Why would I do a thing like that?” the woman says.

“Because you want me to cooperate,” Scott says. His wolf is getting agitated, and he’s pretty sure if she hurts any of them again, he’s going to outright lose it. “If you kill any of them, I can promise you, you will be dead before you leave this barn.”

“Is that a threat or a promise?” the woman says teasingly, and Isaac inhales sharply.

“A fact,” Scott growls. He doesn’t know what’s going on, he can’t see anything, but he can feel Isaac starting to panic, and Derek still isn’t waking up. He can’t feel a pulse in the arm he’s got gripped in his hand, and the scent of blood is getting stronger.

“Let’s test it,” he hears, and both Isaac and Allison shriek, and Scott lets go of Stiles’s arm and lets the Alpha take control, running the thirty feet and tackling the woman. He hears her head hit the floor with a sharp crack, and feels her stop moving underneath him.

Before he can assess the situation, there’s someone pushing him back, and his vision returns to him so suddenly it makes him dizzy. He takes a second to orient himself, and then focuses on the little girl standing in front of him. She’s got a sad but determined look on her face, and Scott doesn’t know what to do. His instinct is still screaming for blood, but there’s a look in her eyes that makes him stop.

“Lily,” the man says softly.

“No,” the little girl says firmly. “She’s my only family. I know she’s done terrible things, but...you can’t kill her.”

She’s looking Scott directly in the eyes, and Scott just stares at her. He doesn’t know what to do, because she’s just a kid. She’d helped kidnap Stiles, hurt his pack, but she’s not attacking him, just standing protectively over the woman.

He senses movement on his right, and a man comes into his view. Beyond him, Scott spots Isaac, who’s staring, his eyes wide and worried. Scott gestures towards Stiles, telling him to go over there, and Isaac nods, moving quickly out of Scott’s line of sight. Scott looks the other way, to check on Derek. He’s lying on his side, a small puddle of blood in front of him. His eyes are still closed, and Scott can feel he’s still unconscious, but the bruises on his face are fading fast enough that Scott can see it happening. The amount of blood isn’t exactly good, but it’s not life-threatening, and it calms Scott down a bit. He gestures at Allison, Chris, and John to come down and hears them starting to do so.

Scott looks at the girl and the man in front of him now, and lets his eyes go red.

“Tell me why I shouldn’t just kill you,” he says.

“By the law of nature, there is no reason why you shouldn’t,” the man says calmly. “We came here on your territory and attacked your pack, abducted one and nearly killed another. You have every right to kill us.”

Scott narrows his eyes. “Why are you here?”

“We heard rumors of a True Alpha,” the man says. “Diana’s fanatic about rare magic, to a truly frightening level. There are certain spells and rituals you can do with the blood of a True Alpha. Since you are the first in over a century, the magic has obviously died off. Diana wanted to get some of your blood to use in magic.”

Scott looks at them. “Can you control her?”

“No,” the man says without hesitation. “But she fears death. We try not to bring attention to ourselves. I don’t know why she thought coming here and attacking a wolf pack would be a good idea, but Diana can be manipulative.”

Scott thinks for a second. Then he gestures back towards Stiles. “Undo whatever you’ve done to him.”

The man looks at the little girl and nods, and they both hold out a hand. Scott turns slightly, keeping them in sight while watching Stiles. John stands next to him, as does Allison and her father, and they’re all watching carefully as Stiles’s body lowers to the table. As soon as it touches it, Stiles takes in a huge gasp of air and sits bolt upright, his eyes wide.

“What the fuck?” he manages to get out, and Scott lets out a breath of relief. As if on cue, Derek stirs. Scott turns to look at him and Isaac, who’s sitting next to him, leans over him. Derek opens his eyes, looking disoriented.

“For what it’s worth,” the man says, and Scott turns back to him. “We are sorry. I know that doesn’t make it right, and I won’t blame you if you decide to kill us.”

Scott feels his stomach clench and knows what he’s decided. Because he may be able to kill in order to protect the pack, but he can’t kill anyone when they’re looking right at him, not defending themselves. He can’t do it. He’s not sure what it’ll mean in long term, and he’s not even sure it’s a smart decision, but he can’t kill this man and this little girl.

“I won’t kill you,” he says, and the man looks at him, surprised. “ _This_ time. But if any of you come anywhere near my pack again, I won’t hesitate. I don’t care why you’re near them. Leave. Now.”

The man doesn’t hesitate and turns to pick the woman up, but the little girl gives him a wide-eyed look, and says, “Thank you.”

Scott doesn’t have a clue what to say to that, and so doesn’t speak as the man ushers the little girl out the door Then they’re gone.

It’s quiet in the barn for a second. Then Stiles blurts out, “Dude. What the fuck.”

Scott turns to look around. Derek’s sitting up now, leaning heavily against Isaac, and he’s looking at Scott with a neutral look. Isaac looks like he’s relaxing. Allison is next to her dad, both of whom look unsurprised, and John is next to Stiles, who is still on the table, looking completely confused.

“I couldn’t,” Scott says, knowing everyone was probably confused. Chris and Allison both nod, and John actually looks relieved. Isaac shrugs, and Derek, who Scott had been sure would have a problem with it, just rolls his eyes. Stiles, however, looks extremely annoyed, and opens his mouth. Scott has no doubt he’s about to demand an explanation, and cuts in.

“We’ll explain later,” he says. “Let’s get out of here.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, guys! How many of you watched last night's episode? It was pretty good, right? I liked the whole Stiles trusting Scott and the bro stuff. Anyway, I may slow down on the writing, because the new semester started, and I've sort of committed to working in the theatre this semester, but I still plan to keep writing. 
> 
> Thanks to whatthehale, still an awesome beta!

It takes them a bit to get out of the barn, mainly because Derek’s still healing and isn’t steady on his feet, and when Stiles stands up, his legs give out and he nearly passes out right there, but they finally start out the door. Derek’s held up by both Isaac and Scott, and Chris and John are both supporting Stiles. Derek gets better with every step, and by the time they make it to Lydia and Scott’s mom, he only needs help from one of them. Isaac takes that duty, and Scott steps forward to allow his mom to hug him.

Lydia immediately wraps her arms around Stiles, who nearly falls over when he tries to hug her back. John catches them both, and Lydia quickly lets go, apologizing.

“What happened?” she asks, taking in the blood all over Derek’s shirt and frowning. Derek frowns back, clearly at a loss what to do with her scrutiny. Scott smirks.

“That’s what I want to know,” Stiles says grumpily. “Last I remember, we were watching _Transformers_. How the hell did I end up in a barn?”

Somehow Scott’s elected to tell the story, and he does, right from when John called him to when the witches left, stopping only to tell John to take them to the animal clinic to make sure there’s no more magic affecting Stiles. He finishes telling everything to Stiles as they help him into the clinic, and Stiles lets out an annoyed noise as they sit him down in a chair.

Scott’s not sure what in all of that Stiles is annoyed about, so he just raises an eyebrow. Stiles frowns and blurts out, “Old barns are so cliche! Why are there still any around? Does the government not realize what a perfect place they are for evil? And abandoned warehouses! Seriously?”

Scott blinks and then cracks up, because it’s just so _Stiles_ to be focused on that of all things. His mom and Lydia both laugh, too, John shakes his head, and Derek, who Scott had forced to ride with them, just smiles. Scott catches Stiles peeking a look at Derek, and suddenly remembers his plan.

He can’t put it into motion yet, because right then Allison, Isaac, and Chris arrive, and Deaton comes out to take a look at Stiles. It doesn’t take long for Deaton to declare Stiles magic-free, but he does suggest that he rest for a couple of days.

“The magic stopped all of your systems,” Deaton tells Stiles. “It tricked your body into thinking it was dead. You’ll be weak and dizzy for a few days.”

Which Scott can tell just makes Stiles’s day, but he doesn’t give him any time to think about it, because he’s suddenly remembered something they forgot to take care of.

“We still have two bodies to take care of,” Scott says, and there’s a sigh from nearly everyone, as they start to think about it.

Finally, it’s decided that Chris will go for a jog and ‘discover’ the bodies. He’ll call the station and John will make sure to get the call, and he’ll handle it from there. He knows there won’t be any evidence to find, and sighs as he leaves, after giving Stiles a good and long hug. Stiles hugs him back without shame, and Scott takes a second to sit back and be glad Stiles is okay.

His mom has to go to work, and Deaton gets a call and has to leave to go help deliver some puppies, so the pack gets kicked out of the clinic. They decide to head to Scott’s house after some deliberation, and split into two groups.

Isaac, Allison, and Lydia go to pick up new clothes and all their homework, along with food. Scott takes Stiles and Derek to pick up clothes and something to do for both of them and then takes them home. Derek’s obviously exhausted as they walk in, and he’s not much help with Stiles, who still can’t walk on his own. Scott manages to convince Derek to change clothes before he collapses into the loveseat. Stiles is pushed down next to him, and stays still for all of twelve seconds before before sitting upright and asking, “Wait, so why did they go after me?”

“Because you’re Scott’s second,” Derek mumbles. His eyes are still closed, and Scott’s not completely convinced he isn’t asleep, but Stiles doesn’t seem to care. He narrows his eyes.

“What are you?” he asks.

“My dad called them warriors,” Derek doesn’t seem annoyed, so Scott doesn’t stop Stiles, instead watching with some amusement.

“What about everybody else?” Stiles asks, but he directs it at Scott.

“Isaac is apparently my bodyguard,” Scott says. “Allison is another warrior, and Lydia is our psychic. Any other questions?”

“Yeah, why is your jaw like that?” Stiles gives him a cheeky grin. Scott flips him off.

“That’s actually a really good question,” Scott hears Isaac say from the front door as he walks in.

“Not you, too,” Scott groans. Derek opens one eye, apparently interested, too, and Scott throws his arms up in the air.

“Why is my jaw so interesting?” he demands as Isaac, Allison, and Lydia walk in.

“Because you’re so pretty,” Stiles deadpans. Derek snorts, which causes Isaac to laugh, too. Allison’s grinning, and Lydia’s rolling her eyes, and just like that, everything’s back to normal. Scott lets out a silent sigh of relief.

They dole out the food (Italian this time, because Isaac had apparently wanted garlic bread) and when finished, decide to have an impromptu movie night. They all agree to let Stiles pick the movie, and he picks _Brave_. Five minutes in, both Stiles and Derek are asleep, and Scott takes a picture and Snapchats it to Cora before taking a picture for them to add to the slowly growing pack photo album. He’s determined to make it a thing.

Scott falls asleep after about a half an hour, and wakes up somewhat abruptly twelve hours later. He’s not sure how he ended up on the floor, but Stiles is in danger of joining him, and from the way Derek’s leaning on him he’s pretty sure he’ll go down, too. Lydia’s still got her boots on and is shivering, and Allison for some reason has her crossbow in her hand. Scott can only see the top of Isaac’s head from underneath the blanket he’s using. He can hear his mom and John talking in the kitchen.

He takes his phone out and takes a picture before realizing he has a Snapchat from Cora. It’s a picture of herself grinning with the text, “Did they finally admit to it?”

He takes a picture of himself with his eyebrow raised and writes, “I wish. I have a plan.”

He hits send and gets up. He gently pushes both Stiles and Derek back onto the loveseat so they don’t fall, takes Allison’s crossbow and puts it on the coffee table, and covers Lydia up with a blanket before heading into the kitchen.

“Good morning,” his mom says as she spots him. He gives her a smile and heads to the coffee machine.

“How is everything?” John asks, and Scott knows he means ‘with Stiles.’ He takes a drink of coffee before turning and answering.

“He seemed okay,” Scott says. “He genuinely doesn’t remember anything. He fell asleep pretty fast and didn’t eat that much, but he was okay enough to make fun of my jaw, so I’d say there’s nothing to worry about.”

“And everyone else?” his mom asks.

“Lydia, Allison, and Isaac were fine,” Scott says. “I am, too. Derek crashed pretty quickly, but he was hurt pretty badly. The healing takes up a lot of energy. He ate a lot, so he should be fine, too. I’ll make sure to check on him later. I think he has to go into the station today. I’ll go over when he’s done.”

He doesn’t add that he’s planning on talking to Derek. He figures that’s only his and Derek’s business. He’s not sure exactly how it will go down, but he wants it to go well. They’d had their differences in the past, but he now considers Derek a friend, an important part of his pack, and he’d be damned if he didn’t at least try to help him.

He’s just gotta go about this the right way.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was going to wait until tomorrow to upload this, but I just wanted to put it up so I can get started on the next one in this series. This is the last one of this story, and I've always liked the idea of Scott and Derek acting like brothers, so that's where this kinda came from. The next story hasn't been started, but I've outlined the hell out of it, so it should be up somewhat soon.
> 
> Again, thanks to my beta, whatthehale, and thank you to all of those who read, commented, and left kudos!

Life gets in the way of pack time when everyone wakes up. They all have something going on: Isaac wakes up with twenty minutes to get to his shift at the grocery store; Lydia’s mom is home again, and she has to go make an appearance there; Derek has a shift at the station and they’re being called to a fire, so he has to hurry to get there; Chris wants Allison home to talk about something; Scott has to go to work at the clinic; and Stiles, poor Stiles, is stuck going home and watching TV, because he’s not up to doing anything else. If it were anyone else, Scott would feel no pity, but Stiles never does well staying in one place. He’s not meant to, and Scott feels bad for both him and John, who has to put up with him. There’s nothing he can do, though, and so he checks that everyone got to where they were supposed to before going to work.

After work, he heads to Derek’s apartment. He has a key, because Derek’s apartment is awesome and a really good place for the pack. Derek has an amazing collection of books, an awesome TV, and keeps his kitchen well-stocked. Scott is glad that Stiles brought up this idea, because it was probably one of the best things they could have done for Derek.

He’s sitting on the couch finishing his homework when Derek comes in. He stops and stares at Scott for a second before rolling his eyes. Scott grins, because it’s eerily similar to what Derek had done to both him and Stiles back at the beginning of the whole werewolf thing, and he’s totally allowed to find that hilarious.

“Why are you here?” Derek asks as he heads into the kitchen.

“Couple of reasons,” Scott says, standing up and following. “First, I wanted to make sure you were okay. You were injured pretty badly.”

Derek turns, an unreadable expression on his face before it clears. “I’m okay.”

Scott nods, because he knows Derek is telling the truth. “Okay. Then I also wanted to say I’m not sorry for not killing them.”

Derek’s quiet for a second before he says, “You shouldn’t be.”

Scott blinks. He’d been under the impression Derek thought he was an idiot for not doing that. “What?”

Derek lets out an annoyed noise. “Remember what I said when we let Deucalion go? My mom always used to say that we’re predators, not killers. I know killing them wasn’t the only option, and they left, so I think you made the right call. And the whole not killing people thing is kind of your defining trait. It’s how you got your status, isn’t it?”

Scott thinks that over for a second. “Huh. You know, you should talk more. You’re a pretty smart guy.”

Derek snorts. “Is that it?”

“Uh, no,” Scott says and decides to just dive in. “So when are you going to tell Stiles how you feel about him?”

Derek’s face is priceless. Scott wishes he’d thought about setting up a camera or something, because he knows Cora and Lydia would have found it hilarious.

“What do you mean?” Derek’s would-be casual question doesn’t work with his facial expression, but Scott mentally gives him points for trying.

“I _mean_ , you know what I mean,” Scott rolls his eyes. “Don’t even start with me, dude, I’m not stupid.”

Now Derek rolls his eyes, and Scott crosses his arms and gives Derek an annoyed look. Because Derek is deflecting, and he’s not allowed to do that, because Stiles does it all the time to Scott and it gets annoying. He stares pointedly at Derek, who then refuses to look at him.

“Derek, come on,” Scott finally says. “I don’t see what the problem here is.”

Derek gives him an incredulous look, and Scott snorts, because even he can see what’s wrong with that statement.

“Okay, besides his age, I don’t see what’s the problem,” he amends, but Derek still raises an eyebrow at him.

“Okay, you’re going to have to explain,” Scott says. “Because we are apparently not on the same page.”

Derek gives him an extremely annoyed look and then looks at the floor. He doesn’t say anything, and after a while, Scott gets antsy, so he clears his throat.

“Look,” he says. “I don’t know what your problem is, but you should know that I’m pretty sure Stiles feels the same way. I haven’t put him up to anything, everything he’s been doing is his own idea. The apartment was his idea, too. All the texts, Snapchats, that was all him.”

Now Derek’s looking at him again. Scott looks him in the eyes, and says, “But you’re going to have to actually talk about it with him. Because if you’re waiting for him to notice, you’re going to be waiting for the rest of your life. He’s a genius, but he doesn’t notice things like that, ever.”

Derek’s looking back at the floor, so Scott decides to try and lighten the mood. “If it goes badly, I’ll help you track down some sort of memory spell and we’ll erase the memory from both of your heads.”

Derek snorts again and ducks his head into the fridge. Scott decides that’s enough for the day, if only because he has school the next day and a calculus test that he’s not sure he’s studied enough for.

“Just think about it,” he says. Derek doesn’t acknowledge that, but he does wave as Scott calls out a farewell and leaves. He’s not sure he got through to Derek, but he’s at least got a start somewhere. Baby steps. He can work with this. He’ll enlist Lydia.

He’s still planning out the next conversation as he goes to bed, and falls asleep while planning out his talk with Stiles.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Monday morning comes way too early for Derek due to the fact he’d stayed awake for several hours after Scott left thinking about what he’d said. He checks in with Scott when he wakes up, and then sees he has three Snapchats, all from Stiles. The first two are just pictures of the TV, but the third is a close of Stiles’s eye, with the text, “Save me, sourwolf, I’m bored.”

Derek rolls his eyes and takes a picture of the book he’s reading, sending it back to Stiles with no text.

He gets a picture of a banana back. Somehow he’s not surprised.

As he’s taking a picture of peanut butter to send back, he thinks about what Scott had said again. He was slightly annoyed to know that Scott had figured it out before Derek himself had even realized what was happening. When he’d stopped to think about it, he’d realized Scott was right.

Which is just fantastic. As if Derek doesn’t have enough things in his life to worry about.

Except he couldn’t let go of how sure Scott had been when he’d said Stiles felt the same way. He couldn’t let go of the fact that Stiles had been texting him and talking to him, becoming his friend, without Scott telling him to. And there was the way he’d felt when Stiles had been missing. He’d been scared out of his mind, barely able to keep control, and when he’d thought Stiles was _dead_ …

So Scott was right. Of course he was, because Derek’s life was weird like that. He didn’t know what to do about it, though. Scott had said to talk to him, but Derek was pretty sure that wouldn’t go over well. Derek’s social skills failed him in most conversations, let alone a declaration of feelings. While he knows Stiles wouldn’t be cruel enough to actually laugh in his face, he doesn’t want to be rejected and then have to face Stiles everyday.

In short, he doesn’t know what to do, and he doesn’t know what to think, so he sends Stiles a picture of peanut butter, and then goes back to his book, hoping maybe the plight of Jane Eyre will take his mind off of things. He’ll figure it out eventually. He hopes.


End file.
